Lover's Walk
by Jasper Price
Summary: Everything about a murder case would be normal, well, as normal as it can get for Phoenix, except this time the defendant is what's messing him up. When Franziska s arrested and charged with murder, it's Phoenix's job to get her out. But, she's not talking and it seems that she knew the victim better than she claims.
1. Chapter 1

**Date: ?**

**Time: ?**

**Location: ?**

_This can't be happening,_ Franziska told herself. She tore through the forest, snagging her sleeve on a branch as she ran. The sound of heavy footsteps could barely be heard over the rain.

It was dark and the freezing rain had started to come down hard and fast, making it impossible to see anything. Before she knew it, Franziska was on the ground, though she couldn't remember for the life of her how she had gotten there. Maybe it was because the rain was frozen on the ground.

"You run quickly, Von Karma. You're like a scared little rabbit trying to escape a hunter, running through the forest like that."

Franziska squinted but to no avail. She couldn't see a damn thing in this weather. She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted.

There was a loud _bang_ and at first Franziska was certain it was thunder. "Goodnight, little bunny."

That was when the pain set in and everything went black.

**February 10th, 8:14 am**

**Wright and Co. Law Offices **

"So, I suppose you're going to spend Saint Valentine's Day with Mystic Maya, right Mister Nick?"

Phoenix looked from the morning paper. He was beginning to wonder if Pearls would ever understand that he and Maya were not now nor would they ever be dating. "I'll be spending it with both of you, I suppose," he finally told her, deciding a compromise would be best.

Pearl shot a glare in his direction. "You can't do that, Mister Nick! You have to spend it with your special someone and I can't be there for that! Tell him that's right, Mystic Maya."

"Um, well…" Maya's face had gone bright red and she was looking at anything that wasn't Phoenix.

Thankfully, before she had to answer that question, the phone rang.

"Oh! Phone! I got it," she declared, leaving Phoenix to deal with Perl's misguided accusations.

_Thanks, Maya, you could explain this better than I could…._

Pearl put her hands on her hips and continued to glare at Phoenix. "You should really take her somewhere nice. Remember that French restaurant that Mister Scruffy Detective took us to?"

How could he forget a place so horrible? Even Gumshoe hadn't liked the place. But, he had eaten the food anyway, just to make Maggey happy.

The door to the office flew open and Maya stood there, the phone still gripped in her hand. "NIIIIIIICK!"

"Maya? What's wrong?"

Maya was in an absolute panic. She blinked several times and shook the phone at him. "Edgeworth called!"

Edgeworth? Phoenix couldn't imagine what would cause his biggest rival and best friend to call this early in the morning. "Something's wrong," he announced, making certain that everyone knew the obvious.

"That's an understatement! Miss Von Karma is in the hospital!"

"WHAT?!" Phoenix was already grabbing his coat. "WHY?!"

"He didn't say!"

Pearl looked between Maya and Phoenix, knowing that she should be panicked but she wasn't quite sure. "That prosecutor lady who was so mean to Mystic Maya…and then so helpful to that last case?"

Phoenix nodded and handed Pearl her coat. "The same one. Maya, did Edgeworth say what happened?"

Maya shook her head. "No, he just said that she was in the hospital and we needed to get there as soon as we could!"

**February 10th, 11:15 am**

**General Hospital**

**Hallway**

Maybe Phoenix was just out of shape, but those stairs made him lose his breath. He thought that he should have been used to exercising by now, considering all the running around he did with Maya and Pearl. Even though he was out of breath, he was still hurrying down the hall toward Franziska's room. How could someone like Franziska have gone and gotten herself hurt…again? Hadn't she already been shot once?

Phoenix, not really paying attention to where he was running, ran into something very big and soft, dust flew out around him.

"Hey! Watch it, pal! Oh, it's you."

Rubbing his head, Phoenix looked up, though he really didn't need to. He didn't need to see the person's face to know who it was. "Detective Gumshoe. Did you come to see Miss Von Karma?"

Gumshoe rubbed the back of his neck and stared up at the ceiling. "Well, not exactly, pal. And I can't let you see her either."

"WHAAAT?!" Maya's mouth dropped open and she stared up at Detective Gumshoe. "Mister Edgeworth called and told us to come down here and now you're telling us we can't see anyone?" She seemed a little more upset than she really should've been.

"Well, see…." Gumshoe looked up and down the hallway before leaning in close to talk. "Franziska is under investigation right now. It's a murder investigation."

"MISS VON KARMA WAS MURDERED?!" Phoenix didn't think it was possible, but Maya got even louder and even more surprised.

Gumshoe hushed her quickly and shook his head. "No, no, nothing like that. She's just asleep right now, in a lot of pain, see. She got shot. The other guy wasn't so lucky…" Gumshoe explained calmly.

"Miss Von Karma, then…she's the murderer?!" Now it was Phoenix's turn to be shocked. Franziska Von Karma was harsh, yes, cruel, yes, and at times she was even bordering on the line of being a sociopath. But, murder? Not her…surely not.

"GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY ROOM, MILES EDGEWORTH! AND DON'T COME BACK UNTIL YOU GE THESE FOOLISHLY FOOLISH IDEAS OUT OF YOUR FOOLISH HEAD!"

Gumshoe took in a sharp breath and looked up the hallways. "Looks like Miss Von Karma is awake after all…and back to her old self already."

The door to Franziska's room opened and a very tired Miles Edgeworth walked out. His hair was slightly ruffled, his coat had been discarded somewhere, and his shirt was wrinkled. Probably from sleeping in a chair. Phoenix couldn't help but wonder if Miles had been here since the incident occurred.

"Wright," Miles said, giving Phoenix his usual curt greeting. "I see you made it after all."

"What's going on, Edgeworth?" There was no time to waste. If Phoenix wanted answers he had to ask the questions now.

Miles shrugged and sighed. "Apparently I'm a 'foolish fool who has nothing but foolish ideas and foolhardy theories.' And my 'foolish ideas will lead to nothing but more foolishness by the foolish man who is a fool of a defence attorney who comes up with even more foolishly foolhardy ideas in that foolish brain of his'. I've known Franziska for a while, and I still think that's the most times I've ever heard her use the word 'fool'."

"That doesn't explain anything! What happened to Miss Von Karma," Maya demanded, shaking Miles's arm as though to shake the truth from him.

Miles glanced down at him and jerked his arm away. "There was an accident last night in Finite Forest."

"Finite Forest," Phoenix asked, mentally jotting down everything Miles said.

"It's a recreational park near the country-side. A man was murdered there and Franziska Von Karma was shot in the stomach. Luckily, it seemed to miss all the vital organs and she's expected to make a full recovery."

This didn't seem to comfort Maya any. "She was shot?!"

"Yes, she was. However, as you may have heard, she's feeling much better today. She's in pain and she refused any kind of pain medication."

"Why would she do that?" While Phoenix had never been shot in the stomach before he could imagine it hurt quite a bit.

"She says it messes with her mind," Miles explained and leaned back against the wall. "The 'victim' in this case is twenty year old Nestor Hocagro. He was shot after Franziska was shot. The autopsy report says that he was shot in the throat and died within ten minutes and prior to the he received blunt trauma to the head, it knocked him out but didn't kill him. That puts the time of death at around one forty-five in the morning." It was all business to Miles, or so it seemed. He was speaking as though this was a normal case, as though he didn't have any attachment at all to the 'defendant' in this case. But there were several things that told Phoenix that while Miles was cool and collected on the outside, it was a completely different story on the inside. Knowing Miles and knowing how he reacted told Phoenix everything he needed to know.

"You want me to defend her, then?"

Miles looked up, a bit surprised that that Phoenix had caught on so quickly. "I was simply reporting the circumstances under which Miss Von Karma came to be in the hos—"

Phoenix shook his head and held up his hand. "And you wouldn't be telling me this if I didn't need to know what was going on." Phoenix took a deep breath and glanced down the hall. This was a battle of morals. He had no idea if Franziska was truly innocent and he wouldn't know until he actually talked to her. But, at the same time, Franziska had gotten him out of a few tough spots and he felt like he owed her for that.

"…Is Mister Nick going to…defend…Miss Von Karma?" Pearl asked suddenly. Phoenix had honestly almost forgotten she was there.

Maya smiled. "Of course he is, Pearly! Nick would never let anything really bad happen to Miss Von Karma! Would you Nick?"

"That's great, pal. I knew that that was the real reason you came all the way down here. Well, okay, I didn't really know…but I would've figured it out sooner or later."

_Great,_ Phoenix thought,_ you're really not giving me much of an option here. And now you've even got Gumshoe into pressuring me!_

"Wright…I was planning on asking…but the evidence clearly puts Franziska as the only possible suspect right now."

Phoenix weighed his options for a moment, but one look at Maya's hopeful face was what made up his mind for him. "I'll take her case. I just need to convince her to let me…"

"Ha! Good luck on that one, pal!"

"Yes, she was quite…against the idea when I suggested it."

_Well, I didn't expect her to love the idea, but she should know that it's the best option she has right now!_ "I'll need to talk to her."

"I can't let you do that, pal."

"Detective Gumshoe!" Maya cried, her eyes going wide again.

"Sorry, I'm on direct orders not to allow any members of the general public into that room…." Detective Gumshoe once again looked up and down the hallway.

Miles smiled slightly. "Detective, how about I treat you to a coffee, for doing your job so well and not letting anyone into her room?"

"Well, that'd be real great, Mister Edgeworth. There's a vending machine right downstairs." If Gumshoe understood any part of Miles's plan then he certainly wasn't letting on. It was entirely possible that he had no idea what was going on.

"Pearl can come to if she'd like," Miles said and stared straight at Phoenix. "It's a much more pleasant scene down there, wouldn't you agree, Wright?"

_Huh? What?_ Then it clicked. Phoenix didn't know how bad Franziska was and, although Pearl had seen a lot of things that nine year old girls probably should see, he wasn't sure if she should see Franziska in such bad shape. "Right. Pearls, why don't you go with the Detective and Edgeworth, I'm sure there's cocoa downstairs too."

"Alright, Mister Nick!" Pearl seemed just as clueless as Gumshoe.

The three of them headed toward the stairs and Phoenix was certain he heard Gumshoe say something about a 'real life pistol', but he figured Pearl was safe in Miles's hands.

Phoenix motioned toward the door. "Come on, Maya, before they get back."

**February 10th, 11:45 am**

**General Hospital**

**Room 306**

He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but he knew he wouldn't get a warm greeting. Franziska's room wasn't exactly pleasant. The walls were a cold white and the curtains had been pulled shut. Flowers had been delivered, but the vase was shattered against the wall. The daisies in the vase littered the linoleum floor and the water from the vase had completely destroyed a very poorly drawn portrait of Franziska.

_I can only guess who drew that,_ Phoenix thought and rolled his eyes. He could only hope that that person wouldn't show up sometime during this case.

"I knew it would only be a matter of time before he convinced you to come here," Franziska said in a tired drawl. "I'll have to dock that detective's salary. I was very clear on my orders. It's foolish for you to be here in the first place. Foolish and pointless."

_Poor Gumshoe…_

She looked, well, Phoenix would never say it out loud, but Franziska looked bad. Her hair was a tangled mess around her face, obviously the hospital wasn't providing brushes and Miles must not have brought her one. Her face was deathly white and she was still sweating, despite the fact that the room was freezing. Cuts and bruises covered her face and arms. She wasn't lying under the blankets, but rather she was on top of them. Since her shirt was riding up just a bit, Phoenix could see the bloody bandage that protected the wound on her stomach. An IV had been stuck in her arm and the dozens of machines behind her beeped, keeping track of her heart rate (which Phoenix noticed rose as soon as she saw him), her blood pressure (which also rose), and a number of things that Phoenix didn't quite know about. He was a lawyer, not a doctor. The machines weren't something for him to worry about.

Phoenix took a seat beside Franziska's bed, having to move Miles's coat out of the way. "It's not pointless for me to be here. You're the defendant in a murder trial, it's logical for me to be here, not foolish."

"All the evidence is against me, Mister Phoenix Wright. There's no point in you aiding me at this point, I can handle the trial on my own!"

Phoenix was instantly reminded of someone else, someone who had been almost exactly in the same position as Franziska. How long had it been since that incident? Since DL-6? Phoenix couldn't remember how long it had been, but he could remember what happened. Miles hadn't wanted Phoenix to defend him either, and Phoenix had insisted. He wasn't taking no for an answer then and he wouldn't now. "You know that if you didn't kill anyone then I'll get you out of this mess! That's what I do!"

"And what if that's not the case?" Franziska said. "What if…I'm not innocent?"

"But you are! …Right?" Maya was looking between Phoenix and Franziska, looking lost and confused.

Franziska shrugged. "If you want me to be perfectly honest….I don't remember," she admitted and glanced away.

"You don't remember?" Phoenix was sure she had to remember something. Surely the shock of getting shot would stick out to her.

"I remember some things, but not everything. For all I know, I could have shot Hocagro. I blacked out that night, I don't remember much of what happened."

"If you passed out then there's no way you could have shot anyone! You can't kill someone when you're unconscious!" She had to know that, surely!

Again, Franziska merely shrugged. "Who's to say I even passed out? I might just be forgetting things. Maybe it's selective memory?"

That wasn't right; Phoenix knew that much for certain. He sighed and brushed back his hair, wondering how long they could argue like this. They had argued for longer about less important thing, of course. "Franziska, let's be perfectly honest here for a minute. No chasing questions that I can't answers and no ridiculous theories."

"No ridiculous theories? Are you saying they're tiresome?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying!"

"Now you know exactly how I felt every time I battled you in the courtroom, Mister Phoenix Wright! Annoying, isn't it?"

Was that what all this was about? Making him annoyed? Phoenix groaned, this could be his most frustrating client yet. "I just want to ask you one question and I want a simple yes or no answer. After that, you can either accept my offer to be your attorney, or you can kick me out right now."

Franziska narrowed her eyes. "Just one question?"

"Yes."

"And I just have to say yes or no?"

"Exactly."

"And then you'll walk away?"

"If you ask me to."

Sighing, Franziska locked eyes with him and nodded. "Fine, ask your one question and I'll answer you honestly."

Yes! He had her now! All he had to do was make sure that he asked the right question and got the right answer. "Franziska Von Karma…did you, to your immediate knowledge, murder Nestor Hocagro?" This was his only chance to get Franziska to accept his offer and defend her. It was the only way he could save her.

Franziska's eyes widened. "I don't—"

"Miss Von Karma! Yes or no?!"

Staring directly into Phoenix's eyes, Franziska seemed to size him up for a few seconds, thinking very carefully about her answer. "No. I don't…I do not recall murdering anyone. The last thing I remember is getting shot…. Ask me anything you want, Mister Phoenix Wright." She looked resigned to her fate. As much as she didn't like it, she accepted it. Although she didn't actually say anything, Phoenix knew that she had accepted him as an attorney.

Smiling, Phoenix leaned back in his seat. "Let's start with the basics. How did you know the victim?"

"Hocagro and I were on speaking terms," she said vaguely.

"Meaning?"

"We spoke."

Phoenix rubbed his face with his hand. Great, his client was annoying, vague, and she hated him anyway. How could things possible get worse? "Alright, were you close?"

"You could say that."

This wasn't going well at all! If he was going to get anything out of her he was going to have to press her hard, and to do that he would have to press some buttons. "Was Nestor a boyfriend of yours?"

Franziska scoffed and smirked. "Please, like any man could handle me. Do you think for a second someone like him could handle me? That's a laughable thought, Mister Phoenix Wright, really. No, Hocagro was…an acquaintance, of sorts."

Phoenix should've known that Franziska wouldn't have had a boyfriend. She was too much for anyone to handle, especially with that whip of hers. Still, he couldn't picture her having friends, or, as she had put it, acquaintances. "So, how did you know the victim, then?"

"Stop referring to him as 'the victim' Nick!" Maya said and crossed her arms. "Miss Von Karma is the one lying in the hospital right now! Who's really the victim here?"

"Hocagro is still the victim, Miss Fey. He's the one that's dead, not me. Someone murdered him. Regardless of how you look at it, he's still the victim in this case," Franziska pointed out.

"Miss Von Karma! He shot you! How could you—"

"He's dead and I am not," she said a bit more sternly. "In any case, the victim was an acquaintance of mine. We had been in communications with each other for nearly a year now. I've noticed that most people in this country," she glared very intently at Phoenix, "are quite foolish, really. Stupid fools living their foolish lives. Nestor, however, was quite brilliant."

"What do you mean 'he was quite brilliant'?"

"He wasn't a fool like some people here. And, he didn't ask foolish questions like that," she said, still pointedly glaring.

_If you would sop staring at me like that then maybe I would be a little less nervous and I could actually figure out a good question, _Phoenix thought and swallowed. "Alright, then, um, what was your relationship with the victim?"

"He was studying to be a lawyer, he wished to become a prosecuting attorney, I suppose you could say that I took him under my wing and showed him what it meant to be a prosecutor and corrected his mistakes."

_Yes, I'm certain they'll discover the marks from the whip on the body._ "Ahem, so, you were his mentor, then?"

"I suppose you could say that."

Phoenix nodded, wishing he had a notebook to take all this down with. He was going to have to rely on his memory for this. "Was that the extent of your relationship with Mister Hocagro?"

For a moment, Franziska just stared at him as though she had frozen up. That was when Phoenix knew there was a problem. The chains appeared and four psyche-locks covered Franziska's heart, keeping her from spilling her secret.

"Mister Phoenix Wright? Are you perfectly alright? You're staring at me as though I'm the fool in this situation."

"It's a psyche-lock, huh, Nick? I guess there was more going on between Nestor and Miss Von Karma than she's letting on."

Phoenix nodded and stood up. He would have more questions later, but for now he needed to check out the crime scene and Hocagro's apartment…and maybe even Franziska's home. "Don't worry, Miss Von Karma. I'll solve this before the trial."

"No, you'll solve it in the middle of the trial while you stall for time and bluff. I know you're routine…and I know that you'll figure it out," Franziska said, though it looked like it physically pained her to say so.

**February 10th, 3:45 pm**

**Finite Forest**

**Entrance way**

There was fresh snow on the ground. Apparently, the rain had turned completely to snow before it stopped. The area was completely deserted and the ground was soggy. All and all, Finite Forest was a miserable place to be today. Not only because of the weather, but because Maya and Phoenix both knew what they were investigating and what all they needed to find.

While waiting for the police to give them the 'okay' to go in, Phoenix and Maya stood outside the stone archway. As it turned out, the park wasn't called 'Finite Forest' at all, one look at the large sign in front told Phoenix that much. There were pale areas of stone where the letters 'I' and 'N' used to be. Once upon a time, it was 'Infinite Forest'. Maybe the letters had been gone so long that people just accepted the name 'Finite Forest'.

"Why didn't you want Pearly to come with us, Nick," Maya said, breaking the silence that hung in the park.

Phoenix looked over at her and shrugged. "I'm alright with her being on most cases, but not this one."

"Why not?"

It was a delicate situation and Phoenix wasn't entirely certain that Maya would understand it completely. "Franziska Von Karma…she doesn't want to show weakness. Besides that, I don't know what all we're going to find on this case. I couldn't shake her when we were investigating you when you were the defendant, but…because it's someone that Pearls knows…I just didn't want her to get caught up in it and maybe fin out something about Miss Von Karma that she didn't want to know." Phoenix remembered what it was like to investigate Edgeworth, he knew what it was like to find things out about people that you would rather not have known. If he could protect Pearls from that then he was going to. He knew he wouldn't be able to shake Maya off, but he could at least protect one person here.

Maya nodded weakly, apparently understanding at least part of that. "You really believe in Miss Von Karma, don't you," Maya asked.

Phoenix nodded. It wasn't like he had much of a choice. He had to believe in what Franziska said. "I do…I just have a feeling that there's going to be some trouble here."

Maya looked up and pursed her lips. "Why do you say that, Nick?"

"Just something I saw in her hospital room…."

**February 10th, 4:00 pm**

**Finite Forest**

**Park**

The park was almost completely deserted, which made sense; all the cops were probably combing the forest for evidence. Maybe during the summer the park was a nice place. Well, maybe it had been a nice place several years ago. The playground was dilapidated. The swings were broken down and the slide was rusted. It wasn't really a family place anymore, that was probably the reason that neither Phoenix nor Maya had heard of it before. The park wasn't even a friendly place to go for a jog. The sidewalk was cracked and there were weeds growing in the cracks. Most of the grass was overgrown, but someone had taken care to keep it short right in front of the old playground, as though hoping that someone would fix it one day.

Phoenix had a very bad feeling about this place, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. There was no obvious evidence, but then, when was the evidence ever obvious? For all he knew the slide itself could be evidence. It was highly unlikely, but at this point he was running purely off faith rather than facts.

"NIIIIICK! NIIICK!"

Phoenix paused. "That voice…"

"It can't be…not again…" Maya followed.

It was almost becoming routine at this point. He would show up at a crime scene and there would always be one person there…one person to ruin his day.

"Larry…"

"…Butz…." Maya seemed to understand as well as Phoenix did that wherever Larry went trouble usually followed. And that trouble almost always involved some sob story involving a girl.

"Hey Nick, I knew you'd be showing up sooner or later. It's like you're always following me?"

"Like I'm always following you?!" _It's more likely they other way around, Larry,_ Phoenix sighed.

Even though Larry had changed from his 'artist' attire into what seemed to be a third or forth hand yellowing tweed suit, he was the same old Larry. Here he was at the scene of a crime, just like always. The only question was: what was he doing here? That was what Phoenix intended to find out.

"Um…Larry…what's up with the suit," Maya asked bluntly.

Larry grinned and brushed dust off his suit, looking a little too proud of the horrible garment. "Well, I was thinking about it and ladies don't really _like_ artist, do they? No, no, ladies like a guy with brains and charm, you have to have both. I mean, look at Edgey, he can hardly keep the girls off him!"

_I really don't think that Edgeworth has many problems keeping his distance from girls…except maybe Miss Oldbag._

"Anyway, like I was saying, girls like brains and charm. Frannie taught me that much. I decided that there was only one way to impress her! I have to be a lawyer!"

Phoenix's faith in Larry, the little bit he had left, crumbled in that moment. There were so many problems with that that he didn't even know where to begin. "Larry…you really don't have what it takes to be a lawyer." If anything, Larry would last a week in law school before he got bored and moved on to something else.

Larry's face fell and he looked ready to cry. "NIIIIICK! Why do you have to do that to me? Every time I find something that'll impress the ladies you just cut me down like I'm a Christmas tree!"

There was no need for such dramatics! Phoenix almost felt down for shooting down the 'dream' that Larry had today, but he had to move on. He wasn't going to stand here all day and comfort Larry Butz! He had a case to solve.

"Um…Larry…why do you think that Miss Von Karma would be impressed by you if you were a lawyer?" Maya glanced over at Phoenix, looking slightly humoured.

"Ah, that! Well, last night I saw here with that law student she's been hanging out with."

"Have you been stalking her?" Phoenix was sure that Franziska's whip would see a lot of action if she knew that Larry was following her around.

Larry, once again, looked read o burst into tears. "NIIIICK! You make it sound so bad! It wasn't stalking, I was just keeping an eye on her, you know, making sure she was alright."

"It sounds like stalking."

"Love knows no boundaries, Nick! One day you'll understand that! And because my passion burns for her like a thousand sunsets, our love will be solid! She can overlook the fact that I might've been watching her a few nights a week, because she knows that that's what love it all about!"

While Larry may have been sure of himself, Phoenix was certain that Franziska would see it differently. There was no way that she was going to agree with Larry. More than likely she would just try to whip some sense into him. "I see…I'm assuming you're here because you're an eyewitness, huh?" Phoenix was only guessing Larry was the witness because Franziska was the defendant. Otherwise he would have assumed that Larry had been the one accused of murder.

"I sure am!"

"Then do you mind telling me what you say?"

Larry nodded and wiped his eyes. "You just won't believe it! I was making sure that my Frannie was alright, because it was super late. No girl should be out on her own that late! Anyway, it was raining so it was kind of hard to see her and besides that, she moves really fast! I lost her once we got to Finite Forest, but you'll never believe what she dropped!"

"What she dropped?" It didn't seem like Larry had actually seen anything, but he might've found a clue.

"Yeah! I couldn't believe it myself, but she and that lawyer dude…it's amazing."

"What's amazing?"

"I guess I just never saw Frannie as the type…she always seemed so wild. I guess he tamed her before I got the chance."

"LARRY! What are you talking about?!"

Larry look up, looking like he had forgotten Phoenix was there for a moment. "Oh, sorry, right. She was getting married."

"WHAT?!" Phoenix and Maya yelled in unison.

Larry nodded and fumbled around in the pockets of his horrible coat. He pulled out a small red ring box and handed it off to Phoenix. "I just couldn't believe it. I didn't even know she had a boyfriend. Consider my heart crushed, Nick! Think about how I felt in that moment! My very soul was ripped from my body!"

Franziska had said that she hadn't been dating Nestor…hadn't see? It seemed unreal…that she would lie to him. No, now that Phoenix thought about it, he could remember the psyche-lock over Franziska's heart that appeared when he asked her about her relationship with Nestor. Still, marriage? Phoenix opened the box. Inside was a small silver ring. It was small, but it still seemed a bit too bit to be Franziska's. But there was a note. Above the ring was a note that said 'Keep safe –Hocagro'. Was that a message from the victim for Franziska to stay safe? If wasn't making sense.

"Nick…was Miss Von Karma really getting engaged?"

It seemed unlikely, but at the same time that was what the evidence pointed at. The whole thing was making Phoenix's head spin.

"But, seeing as how her boyfriend went and kicked it, I don't guess that she'll be marrying him. That leaves me wide open!"

"You sure do seem…optimistic," Maya guessed.

_Something's not right here. If Larry is the witness…what happened? _"Larry, what did you see last night?"

Larry seemed to have forgotten all about that for a moment. "Oh, I didn't see anything."

Phoenix was beginning to despair again.

"It's what I heard."

"What you…_heard?"_

"Yep. I was walking away from Finite Forest when I heard it. _Bang! _One shot and I stopped and looked for lightning. See, it was really cold and there's not usually thunder and lightning when it's cold like that. So, I waited and then…_BANG!_ A few minutes later there was another one. Turns out they were gunshots. I bet you didn't know that, Nick!"

Did Larry really think that Phoenix wouldn't know there had been gunshots where someone had been shot? "Yes, I actually had already read the report that stated that."

"Oh, right. Sometimes I forget that we lawyers get reports."

"_We lawyers?"_

"So, that guy died, right? That's what everyone is saying, anyway. A lawyer has to listen to everything that people say and take it all with a grain of salt!"

If Larry really became a lawyer then Phoenix had plans to retire. Battling him in court would be like arguing with a child. "Yes, Larry. And Franziska is on trial for it."

Larry's face fell and he actually was crying this time. "My Frannie?! They think she killed someone? No way! I'll tell them everything I saw and make sure she gets—"

"LARRY! You didn't see anything!"

"Oh, that's right." Larry rubbed the back of his neck and smiled again. "I forgot."

Great, the witness was contradicting himself and he wasn't even on the stand yet! This was going to be one annoying trial.

"Miss Von Karma got shot too," Maya offered. "It could have been self defence, ya know."

That was the last thing that Maya should have said. Larry's eyes widened. "Frannie got shot! I have to go to her right away! She needs the comfort of a man! I big strong man, like myself! I'll make sure that she's feeling better by morning!"

"Larry, wait a second! Did you see anyone else that night?"

Larry thought for a moment and snapped his fingers. "Oh, right, she was with that law student dude when I saw her. They met up here while I was following…I mean, making sure she was safe…"

Maya stared at him. "I thought you said Miss Von Karma was by herself…"

"Well, I just got confused again. She walked here by herself, but she met up with that dude when she got here."

Phoenix had a lot of questions, but he was going to need to break the psyche-lock to get anything from Franziska herself. "Did either of them have a gun?"

"Dude, it was dark and raining, I couldn't see much. I didn't see any gun."

Of course he didn't. If either of them did have a gun then they wouldn't have kept it in plain sight.

"Anyway, I gotta go make sure my Frannie is alright! She must be so scared right now!"

Before Phoenix had the chance to get anything else out of Larry, he was gone. He had actually run off to get to the hospital.

"Nick…why didn't you tell him that he wouldn't be able to get in to see Miss Von Karma?"

Phoenix shrugged and smiled slightly. "I thought it'd be better for him if he found out for himself. Now, c'mon, we've still got a lot to investigate."

**February 10th, 4:45 pm**

**Finite Forest**

**Forest**

Just as Phoenix had expected, the forest was absolutely covered in cops. It would be difficult to get much evidence without being noticed. He glanced around. He could see where the body had been, the area was roped off with yellow caution tape. There was a fair amount of blood that hadn't been washed away by the rain. Hmm…that must've been the point where the rain had turned to snow. Some of the blood was frozen on the ground and Phoenix really didn't want to look at it too much. There was another puddle of blood a few feet away. There wasn't nearly as much blood there and Phoenix could only assume that that was where Franziska had been shot.

Only one thing really stuck out to him in the forest. There was a green scrap of cloth on the ground.

"That's one of Miss Von Karma's gloves,' Maya said, apparently noticing it at the same time that Phoenix did.

Phoenix nodded. "Yeah, I wonder why she would take her gloves off…and I wonder where the other one is."

"It was really cold that night, there's no reason she should have taken it off, is there?"

"Not that I can think of, by maybe we should ask her ourselves."

This case wasn't making much sense, but none of Phoenix's cases had ever really made much sense. Still, there were already a lot of questions he needed answered. What was Franziska's real relationship with the victim? What was the purpose of the ring? Why had she taken her gloves off?

**February 10th, 6:34 pm**

**University Dormitory**

**Hallway**

The hallway was exactly what a person would expect to see in a college dorm. Trash littered the hall, posters for weekend events had been taped to the wall, and it was loud. It was so loud that Phoenix could barely hear himself think. He didn't want to be the bad guy, though. The last thing he wanted was to be the old guy who asked kids to turn down their music.

"Excuse me," Maya yelled over the bass. "Could you turn that down? We're working on an investigation!"

To Phoenix's great surprise, the music died down almost instantly and no one yelled out complained.

Maya grinned, looking proud of herself. "Thank you!"

Alright, Phoenix was impressed.

"Um, pardon me…"

Phoenix turned around. There was a petite girl standing by him, looking very nervous. It felt a bit wrong, but Phoenix couldn't help but notice that the girl was quite pretty. If Pearl had been there she probably would have slapped him. The girl wore a grey knitted dress that showed off her long legs, and fur covered black boots that came up to her knees. Her brown hair shined in the light and fell in thick curls over her shoulders. Her green eyes were misty and she held her hand up to her pink lips.

Shaking off the surprise of being approached by a beautiful girl, Phoenix cleared his throat. "I'm Phoenix Wright, Attorney at Law."

"I'm Maya Fey, Assistant at Law…oh, and a spirit medium."

"Oh, a spirit medium…I've never met a real spirit medium," she said in a quiet voice. "Um, I'm Allison Bie, um, but you can call me Allie, everyone does. I'm a, um…I'm a law student here…um…yes…"

Phoenix nodded. "Alright, Allie Bie, how can I help you?"

Allie paused and seemed to think about it for a moment. She opened her mouth to speak and then shook her head. "No, no…that's not what I want to say," she said to herself.

"Uh…Miss Bie?" What was with everyone working very hard to make sure he didn't get any work done?

"Oh! Right. I…you're investigating Nestor, right?"

"Well, I'm an attorney, not an investigator."

"Oh, okay…" Allie said and turned to leave.

"Wait!" This girl could lead him to some clues, Phoenix could just let her walk away! "Did you know the victim?"

Allie paused again and thought about this question, pressing her hand against her mouth. "Um, well…kind of. I, um…I don't talk to many people, really…I'm really devoted to my studies. But, um…I knew Nestor to say hello. He was always really nice to me. He was always with that other girl, though…."

_That other girl…he can't mean…._

"Miss Von Karma, right," Maya offered.

"Hmm? Oh, yes, her…I think they may have been dating or something."

Dating?! There it was again! Someone else had noticed this. Had Franziska really been dating this college student? Had she really been planning on marrying him?

"Nestor was really popular with the girls…I think it was because he was really good looking…." Allie blushed slightly. "I know one girl who was jealous."

Maya lit up like a Christmas tree. "I bet it was you, huh? You liked Nestor, didn't you?"

Allie looked up and her eyes widened. "Oh, no, no. I wouldn't have time for a boyfriend even if Nestor asked me. But…there was this girl at this coffee shop, um, I think it's called 'Just Your Cup of Tea'. I know she liked Nestor a lot…"

Jealously. Phoenix had seen it before. Jealously was a perfect motive for murder. "Who was this girl?"

"Oh!" Allie looked up and covered her mouth again. "I don't know who she is, I just heard that she stopped by one of his classes…."

"So, she's a law student, then?"

"No, not exactly…I mean, not at all, really. She's just…she's just a barista, like I said. But…Nestor got into a lot of trouble over her."

Trouble? If Phoenix could prove that there was some kind of issue with Nestor and someone else then he might be able to go ahead and clear Franziska's name! He didn't have he evidence to get Franziska herself to talk, but maybe he could get something out of this girl. "Miss Bie…what kind of trouble did Mister Hocagro get into over this barista?"

Once again, Phoenix hit a stand still. Two psyche-locks appeared over Allie's heart, keeping her secret locked in.

"Um…I think I should let you get back to your investigation, Mister Wright…" she said, sounding more nervous than before. "Good luck."

"She knows something," Maya said as soon as Allie had disappeared around the corner.

"Thanks captain obvious."

**February 10th, 6:56 pm**

**University Dormitory**

**Nestor's room**

It was no surprise that the room was perfectly tidy. Phoenix was certain that Franziska Von Karma would expect nothing les from her student than absolute perfection, and that must have started with an organised room. It was way better than Phoenix's dorm room had ever been. All the books were neatly arranged on the shelf, the bed was made, all his papers were in neat stacks. There seemed to be nothing out of place. Still, there was something bothering him. Something was out of place, he just couldn't quite figure out what it was.

Maya, thankfully, seemed to catch on to what it was. She knelt down and picked up a scrape of paper off the floor. It seemed to be the only think on the linoleum floor other than the plain white (and perfectly clean) rug. "'Meet me at 'Your cup of Tea' unless you want the world to know what you've been up to'…NICK! This is a clue, a big one! It means that Nestor was up to something big!"

Phoenix took the note from Maya and examined it. It was written in red calligraphy ink, and Phoenix couldn't help but wonder who still wrote in calligraphy. "I wonder what he was doing…" Did this have anything to do with the trouble he was in?

"Maybe he was secretly a bank robber!"

"A bank robber?"

"Yeah! Like, maybe when he became an attorney he was going to set up the crimes and frame someone for them. Then he'd be their defence attorney and be really bad at it and get them thrown into jail instead of himself! It's the perfect crime!"

There were so many things wrong with that. Sometimes, Phoenix wondered how Maya came up with these things. "He was going to be a prosecutor, Maya, not a defence attorney."

"Oh…that's right. I guess that's not the trouble."

Whatever it was, Phoenix was certain that it was bad. If it hadn't been then there would have been no serious trouble. This case was already insane, so maybe Maya was onto something. _Get a hold of yourself, Phoenix! You can't seriously think like that! Sure, things aren't adding up now, but surely there's something else in here that'll link things together._

"Hey, there are some letters on his desk!"

How many times had they been over this? Invasion of privacy was just wrong, even if the person was dead. "Maya! You can't just read people's—"

"Oh! Nick! Read these!"

Sighing, Phoenix decided that he really didn't have much of a choice. Maya had already read the notes, she would tell him what they said anyway, he might as well read them himself.

_F.V.K_

_ I really enjoyed last night. I'm definitely learning more from you than I ever learned from school, ha-ha. Seriously, though, I can't think of anyone else I would've rather been with. Not only are you intelligent, but you got an almost dangerous beauty about you. Imagine where we would be if you had never become my mentor. Well, I suppose that you're a bit more than my mentor now, huh? I can't wait to see you later._

_Yours truly_

_N.H_

_ Nestor,_

_ First of all, do not ever address me by my initials. It's ridiculous and makes you look like a fool. I have spent quite a lot of time assuring myself that you are not a fool, do not make me regret that decision. In any case, I know that you are not a fool because I do not spend much time with fools (except in the courtroom, and then it is simply inevitable). Now, enough with the flattery, you're either making me blush or making my whip hand twitch, I'll let you figure out on your own which it is. Yes, later, I was thinking we could meet up at this French restaurant. It is truly dreadful._

_Yours for now_

_Franziska Von Karma._

That. Was. Impossible! This was evidence, solid evidence that Franziska had been romantically involved with the victim! This could change things entirely! If Franziska were to get jealous of someone there was no telling what she would do! Or if someone else was jealous… There were too many 'what if's'. He needed to talk to Franziska about this now!

"Nick…."

"I can't believe her! She lied to me! She said that…she said…"

"Nick…"

"What?"

Maya was standing by the bed holding a square blue button. "Nick, do you recognise this?"

"It's a button." As crazy as this case was, Phoenix still knew what a button was.

"Doesn't it look familiar?"

Phoenix took another look at the button and everything solidified in his mind. That was, quite obviously, a button from Franziska's sleeve. Alone, it would have just meant that she had been in Nestor's dorm room. That would have made sense since she was his mentor, she would have had every reason to be in Nestor's room. But, along with the notes and the ring…Phoenix didn't know what to think.

"I think we should pay Mis Von Karma another visit and get this all straightened out.


	2. Chapter 2

**February 11th, 8:04 am**

**General Hospital**

**Room 306**

"You'd better hurry up and figure all this out, Mister Phoenix Wright. The trial is tomorrow and you haven't got time to waste."

Naturally, the trial would be as soon as possible, just to make certain the Phoenix didn't have any time at all to prepare. "That's why I need to ask you a few questions." He was going to get to the bottom of this one way or another.

Franziska sighed and lay down on her bed. She seemed to be feeling a bit better. Maybe she had given in and taken the painkillers. "Hurry up and ask, I'm preparing to sleep some."

Reaching into his pocket, Phoenix pulled out the Magatama that Maya had given him back when she was on trial. "About your relationship with the victim…."

"I _told you_, he was my student and I was his mentor. There is nothing more to tell." Just as expected, the locks and chains appeared over her heart, proving that this was a lie. Or, at least, this was mostly a lie.

Phoenix shook his head. "I don't think so, Franziska—"

"_Miss Von Karma!"_

"Whatever. The fact of the matter is this: you and the victim were in a romantic relationship."

Either Phoenix was seeing things, or Franziska's face paled a bit. "That's…that's ridiculous and foolish! Once again, the foolish attorney comes up with foolish ideas! I should have known better than to trust a fool with my life! Where's your proof?!"

"This letter from Mister Hocagro. It doesn't sound like something a student would write to a mentor, does it, Miss Von Karma?"

He was obviously getting somewhere. The first lock broke open with no trouble. "That….that's circumstantial! F.V.K could be anyone! For all you know it could be…it could be…someone's name…Fool Valentine…Kim!"

Phoenix shook his head. He was ready for this argument. "It could be, if this letter hadn't been with it. I believe you're the fool here, writing down your full name in a letter like this!"

"That's….no…!" Franziska was sweating now and the second lock broke. Then, suddenly, she calmed down and smiled slightly. "Very nice, Mister Phoenix Wright. But this still proves nothing to me. How do you know that I ever really met with the victim on anything other than a professional ground? He could have written these letters himself."

While Phoenix hadn't thought of that, he did have the proof that Franziska hadn't just met with Nestor in a library or her office. "A button from your shirt was found in his room! How professional is it to meet with someone in their room?" He was so close he could taste it.

The third lock shattered. Now Franziska was sweating for real. He had her cornered. "Th-there's nothing that links me to having a directly romantic relationship with the victim! I would never…if I even thought that he was…I… Do you have any other proof? Anything that proves, without a doubt, that I was seeing the victim?"

This was it. He was almost there, he just had one lock to break. There was one piece of evidence left that he could present to her, and he only hoped it worked. "The night the victim was killed you dropped something, didn't you?"

"I…no…?"

"Miss Von Karma! An eye witness not only saw you drop the item, but he picked it up. Imagine his surprise when he saw this!" Phoenix withdrew the ring and held it out to her. "You had this and it clearly says that it's from Nestor. Do you need any other proof?"

Finally, the last lock shattered into pieces. Phoenix almost regretted it. Franziska looked so small, having just been beaten outside the courtroom by Phoenix. For the first time ever, Phoenix saw her for the eighteen year old girl she really was and not for the highly esteemed prodigy she had become.

"It wasn't like that…" she said in a small voice. "We weren't actually dating."

"Miss Von Karma, I just proved beyond a shadow of a doubt—"

"Shut up! I'm speaking and it's time you were quiet! If you want to lean anything you need to shut your mouth and open your ears."

Now there was the Franziska Von Karma that Phoenix had come to know. Still, he couldn't ignore how, well, how scared she looked.

"Nestor was trying to make one girl jealous and get one girl off his back. He wanted to date a girl named Allie Bie. I approved this simply because she was so devoted to her studies. A foolish girl, perhaps, but she did have work ethic."

"And you agreed to go alone with this because…"

"It wasn't only to get Allie's attention; Nestor wanted another girl off his back. That fool, Attie, she ruined a perfectly good coffee one morning by putting sugar into and she was always distracting Nestor from his studies. I was in it to get back at her for ruining my morning…and so that she would finally leave Nestor alone. She was all over him all the time, she even appeared after one of his classes to ask him out. The nerve!"

Phoenix knew that she wasn't lying, but it still seemed ridiculous to him. "So, you wanted to get revenge on someone who ruined your coffee…?"

Franziska seemed to perk up a bit more. "Why are you so surprised, Mister Phoenix Wright? She was distracting my student, my own little clay person that I was moulding. I couldn't have that now, could I? So, I went along with his plan to make Allie jealous, while taking care of my own plans. She ruined my coffee that night too, the night that everything happened. I think she must have put salt in it."

"So the ring…"

"It's a fake. There's no real value in it, have it tested if you want."

Well, this certainly did clear up some things. "Franziska…erm, Miss Von Karma…I have one more question for you."

Franziska seemed quite perky now. She was smirking, which meant that she was quite proud that she had managed to trick Phoenix like she had, despite what had come of it. "Well, don't waste my time. And it had better not be anything else about this stupid not-a-love-story."

"It's not. I just wanted to know…why did you go out that night? Why did you go to the park?"

Instantly, Franziska's face fell and she looked down. "I can't tell you that, Wright."

There were no psyche-locks, but she was still hiding something. "Why not?"

She shook her head. "I'd rather not say it out loud. If you want to know…the answer is at my home."

"Your…home?"

"I'm tired now, Wright! Go, finish your investigation. There's no time to waste."

If Franziska wasn't going to admit why she had gone out, if she wasn't able to say it out loud, then Phoenix could only believe that it was too embarrassing for her to say it. There had to be a reason, and Phoenix would almost bet his badge that it had to do with the trouble that Nestor had gotten himself into.

**February 11th, 9:32 am**

**Home of Franziska Von Karma**

**Living room**

Phoenix should have expected this from a family that valued perfection over everything else. For a girl who lived alone, Franziska had a large home. Maya, Phoenix noticed, was still an absolute awe of it. Alright, Phoenix could admit it, it was a _really_ nice place. The floor was covered by a dark blue, soft carpet, the drapes matched as well. The living room was decorated in white leather furniture, gold framed paintings, and several awards that Franziska must have won during her childhood. The only problem was that this place didn't feel like a home. It had a very unlived in feel. There were no photographs, nothing to show that Franziska had any kind of family. The only really personal artefact in the room was a German flag that hung on one wall, a single reminder of her home, her real home.

It was strange to be in her home and it made Phoenix feel very uneasy. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of person Franziska Von Karma really was. In the time he had known her he had seen a lot of different sides of her. She was driven to be perfect, to win, and to beat him. Then, she was surprisingly helpful at times. When Maya had been kidnapped she had brought evidence to the courtroom that had helped save Maya. Who was she really? Was she that cold and perfection-driven person, or did she really have a soul?

For a few minutes, Phoenix just stared at that flag. Maybe it didn't mean anything, but he was still wondering. He wondered what all she had left behind in Germany. He knew that she had had a very promising career over there, but what else did she have? Did she have friends there? A favourite café? Phoenix wasn't sure why he was wondering about these things, but he was. Franziska did have a life over there, and she had all but abandoned that. Germany was her home. It was where she grew up, where she learned law, and where she had been told that the Von Karma meant nothing but perfection.

It was when he was looking around for any trace of a life that Phoenix noticed it. There was in fact a photograph on the table. Thinking it was a personal memento that would give him some insight into Franziska's life, Phoenix picked it up.

It wasn't anything about her personal life outside the case, but it was important. Phoenix instantly recognized the person in the photograph. How could he forget such a lovely face? It was a snapshot of Allie Bie, sitting in the quad at Ivy University. The only question was: what was Franziska doing with a photo of her? Phoenix didn't have time to think about this. Surely this wasn't what Franziska meant when she said that there was evidence in her home. Was it? It just didn't make any sense.

**February 11th, 9:49 pm**

**Home of Franziska Von Karma**

**Franziska's bedroom**

Franziska's bedroom fit in with the rest of the house. It was decorated in dark blues and it looked like someone had spent quite a lot of money on it. However, there were a few things different in here than in the living room. The first thing that Phoenix noticed was the obvious. There was a sturdy desk, a Captain's desk, sitting up against one wall. It was covered in law books, famous case reports, and noted. Apparently a Von Karma never stopped studying. They really did strive for perfection….

Maya, ever wishing to snoop into people's personal affairs, noticed the next thing that was out of place. She picked up a gold framed photograph from the side table by Franziska's bed. "Hey, Nick, do you think that this is a picture of Miss Von Karma from when she was a kid?"

One look at the photograph told Phoenix that Maya was right. The picture was of Franziska, she was probably around thirteen, which Phoenix figured would make it about the same time she became a prosecutor. Manfred Von Karma stood behind her, his hands on her shoulders, looking almost proud. It might have been a sweet picture, had it not been for the fact that a younger Miles Edgeworth was also in it, being hit with Franziska's riding crop. It seemed that some things just never changed.

So, she really was a person, though. She did keep memories. Phoenix shook his head and sat the picture back down on the bedside table. Franziska was, dare he say it…cute? God, if she even knew he was thinking that she would kill him!

"I wonder who this is…"

Maya had managed to find yet another picture in a frame. This one had been sitting facedown on the dresser and Phoenix couldn't decide if it had accidentally fallen over or if it had been placed like that on purpose. The girl in the picture looked a lot like Franziska, but there were quite a few differences. She had a plain black skirt and blazer and her light coloured hair fell midway down her back. The woman in the picture had to be in her late twenties. She wasn't smiling. In fact, she looked like the camera had somehow offended her. Phoenix shook his head and sat the picture back on the dresser, face up. Maybe he would have a chance to ask Franziska about it later, provided that didn't end in pain.

"She said that there was something here that would explain things. That's what we're here for. We're not here to—Maya! Don't go through her desk!"

It was a bit too late for that. Maya was already shifting through the papers on Franziska's desk. "She said that we would find something here, do you really think that she would leave any incriminating evidence just lying out where anyone could find it?"

She had a point, and they were actually allowed to be here and they did need to find the piece of evidence that Franziska had mentioned. Still, Phoenix had a suspicion that Franziska wouldn't be too happy if she knew that Maya was digging through all of her stuff. He could practically hear the whip cracking now.

"Got it! I think, this has to be something, it's written in the same red ink as the letter on Nestor's desk!"

Phoenix took the letter. It was written in the same reed ink, but the lettering was a lot sloppier. Whoever wrote it must have been in a bigger hurry when they wrote this one than when they wrote the one to Nestor. There was one other strange thing that Phoenix noticed about the letter. The person who wrote it must not have known Franziska very well, or at all.

_Francis _

_ Come to Finite Forest this evening at one a.m unless you want your secret exposed to the public._

_X_

Of course they couldn't be bothered to sign it because that would make it too easy.But that explained exactly what Franziska was doing at Finite Forest, but there were still a lot of things that Phoenix needed answers to.

"I wonder who Francis is," Maya thought aloud. "Maybe Franziska had a twin sister and this letter was for her! Maybe that's what happened!"

Phoenix highly doubted this possibility. "I think that whoever wrote this didn't actually know Franziska, I think they had just heard her name and got confused."

Maya sighed. "Well, it was worth a shot. At least we know why she was there, not we just have to figure out who wrote this letter."

That was going to be the hard part. "Maybe we should start with one of our other mysteries."

"One of our other mysteries?"

"Remember what Allie Bie said about Nestor?"

Maya perked up and nodded. "Oh yeah, she said that he got into some kind of trouble over that barista girl. Maybe once we figure that out everything else will fall into place!"

This was something else that Phoenix seriously doubted, but it was worth a shot. It might clear up something, anyway.

**February 11th, 12:37 pm**

**Just Your Cup Of Tea**

**Café**

The walls were covered in chipped tea cups and there was a large stockpile of tea leaves in glass jars behind the mahogany counter. The smell of the café was enough to knock Phoenix back. All the teas mixed together in the air to create what he could only politely describe as an interesting scent. Phoenix took a seat in one of the many mismatched plaid armchairs that sat around the small café. He needed to get his head straight before talking to anyone.

"It smells great in here, huh, Nick," Maya said and inhaled deeply.

Phoenix mumbled something and rubbed at his eyes. How could someone stand to be in here for more than thirty seconds?

"Welcome to Just Your Cup of Tea! I'm Attie Boyd, what can I get ya?"

The girl speaking was about Maya's height and age. For the most part, she looked normal. She wore a clean blue and white uniform and a fresh apron. The only thing that made her really stand out was, well, her hair. It was violently blue and stuck up in random places. Her look was more distracting than the smell of tea.

"If you need a minute you can take a menu," she offered, sounding overly chipper.

While Phoenix wasn't here for tea, he did slip a menu in his pocket, deciding he might need it later. "Actually, we're here to talk to you about Nestor Hocagro."

Attie's whole demeanour changed in just a few seconds. Her eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms over her chest. "Hmph, and why would you need to talk to me about him? We had absolutely nothing to do with each other."

"Well, yes, I understand that there were some little problems—"

"Little problems? He chose that whip-toting demon over me. I would hardly call that a _little problem_!"

'Whip-toting demon', that was a new one. Phoenix would have to make sure he never ever called Franziska that.

"She stole Nestor from me," Attie went on. In her anger, she knocked a small bottle off the counter and it tumbled onto the floor. "Great! Look what you made me do!"

_What I made you do? I just asked one question and you exploded on me!_ Sighing, Phoenix knelt down to pick the bottle up. "Hmm, are these pain killers?" What on earth were pain killers doing out in the open in a coffee shop?

"They're mine for my leg," someone said as the back door swung open.

Phoenix was now looking at someone who might have been a linebacker. He was tall and had more muscles than Phoenix could ever hope to have. Also, he was absolutely covered in paint. Some was in his hair, a lot was on his clothes, and his hands were specked red.

"Nick, he's really big," Maya pointed out.

The man laughed and looked down at Maya, smiling. "I'm an artist though, I won't hurt you," he assured her. "Though, I do have to ask what you're doing here giving my little sister a hard time."

"Little…sister?" Phoenix couldn't see the resemblance. Aside from the fact that the man's hair was blonde, they looked completely different. Attie was small, petite, and the man was a giant.

"Mmhmm. I'm Alex Boyd. How can I help you?"

Great, now Phoenix had this to deal with. How was he going to get all the information by tomorrow?

"So, I guess since Attie's your little sister you're pretty protective, huh?" Maya asked. She seemed to have gotten a lot more comfortable since Alex had assured her that he wasn't going to hurt her.

Alex nodded. "I guess you could say that. I mean some people might even call it overprotective."

"Mister Boyd, what's that on your hands?" It was bothering Phoenix and he couldn't explain why. Something about the colour just looked so familiar.

Alex looked down and shrugged. "Like I said, I'm an art student. I was working on this picture, completely in calligraphy ink. It's not the easiest thing in the world to do."

Wait! Calligraphy ink? Phoenix didn't need Maya to help him put the pieces together this time. The letters written to Franziska and Nestor had been in red calligraphy ink and that could only mean one thing. "Mister Boyd, do you mind me asking you where you were on February 9th?"

"With my sister," Alex answered immediately, tensing up slightly. "Why?"

"We're investigating a murder as well as an attempted murder."

Alex stood up a little straighter and balled his fists up. "I think you're going to need to leave, Mister. We don't want any trouble."

"We need to—"

"Out!"

"Nick, I don't think that this is the kind of guy we want to make any trouble with."

Regardless of the trouble, Phoenix needed to know, And if he couldn't get any answers out of Alex or Attie, he knew that there was one person who might know something about this that he needed. "You may very well be called into court tomorrow, I hope you understand that, Mister Boyd."

Alex didn't look like he cared much about being called into court. "I don't have anything to say to you, Mister. Now get out before I call the police."

"Nick, what do we do?"

There was only one thing left to do, and Phoenix could only hope that he had the evidence he needed to do it.

**February 11th, 2:03 pm**

**University Dormitory**

**Hallway**

This was Phoenix's last chance to get any information. He just had to talk to Allie Bie. The hallway was loud as ever and Phoenix wondered how he ever got though living here for so many years. It was almost nostalgic, but he wasn't really in the mood for a trip down memory lane, especially not after the case that had almost cost him his life when he had been here.

"Oh, you came back. Mister, um, Mister Fey and, um, um…Miss Spirit Medium."

For someone who wanted to go into law, Miss Bie certainly was forgetful. "Actually, I'm Wright."

"Oh, I'm sure you are…um…what are you right about again?"

Ugh, this was going nowhere fast. "No, I'm Phoenix Wright, Mister Wright. And this is Maya Fey, remember?"

Allie blinked several times and nodded. "Right, right. Mister Wright and Mrs Wright."

Phoenix sighed and decided just to let that one go. He was just glad that Pearls wasn't there, she would have had an absolutely field day with the whole Mrs Wright thing. "Sure. Anyway, there were some questions we didn't get answered yesterday and I was wondering if maybe we could ask you about something."

"Um…okay…" Allie said, though she sounded like her mind was elsewhere. Then again, Phoenix was fairly certain that her mind was always elsewhere.

"I wanted to ask you about how Nestor got into trouble over Attie, the barista."

As expected, the two psyche locks returned over Allie's heart. "Oh, that…well, I don't really know what happened. I, uh, I just heard then going at it."

"Nestor and who, Miss Bie?"

"I, um, I don't know," Attie said and shrugged her shoulders.

Obviously she knew a lot more than she was letting on, otherwise the locks wouldn't be in place. "I think you do know, Miss Bie. If I'm not mistaken, the argument took place between Nestor and Attie's older brother, Alex. He seemed overprotective of her and Nestor wasn't exactly kind to her, was he?"

Allie winced and one lock over her heart broke. "I-I saw the two of them in the hallway. I hate it when people yell, so I just waited in the corridor until they were done. I-I didn't hear anything."

"You didn't hear anything?" If that was true then there wouldn't be another lock over her heart, would there? "I think that you heard something, Miss Bie. Something that you would have rather not heard, right?"

"I had my hands over my ears the whole time. I just wanted to go to my room and study, but they were in the way. What would I have heard?"

"I think that you heard Alex threaten to expose Nestor's secret, didn't you? He threatened to tell everyone about the relationship that Nestor had with a certain prosecutor."

The final lock broke and Allie reached up and wiped at her eyes. "It wasn't just that Alex said that he was going to expose what was happening, it was what Nestor said. Nestor pushed Alex away and said that he didn't care if he told the whole world because he never cared for Franziska in the first place. He said that he was just using her to get a better job once he was out of school. That wasn't the Nestor I knew. He sounded so…so mean when he talked to Alex about Franziska. I thought that Franziska was his girlfriend, but I guess I was…I was wrong about a lot of things, huh?"

Phoenix could only hope that Franziska never heard about this. She didn't like to be used and he wasn't sure how she would react to this news. "So, Alex left then?"

Allie sighed and shook her head. "No-not right away. He said…he said that he would tell Franziska. He said that Franziska would care about her reputation more than he did…"

So, it would have made sense for Alex to have written the notes. Everything seemed to be coming clear right before his eyes. For once, Phoenix felt confident about the case and about the trial. He had evidence that supported his idea that Franziska wasn't the murderer. The only thing he had to worry about was the prosecution. They always seemed to have an ace up the sleeve, and Phoenix had to be ready for that. After all, they weren't the only ones holding a good hand.


End file.
